Squanto, Uniter of People: Emerald Character

The real history

Tisquantum, whom the English called Squanto, came from Patuxet, a Wampanoag village on the coast of present-day Massachusetts. In 1614 an English captain named Thomas Hunt tricked a group of Wampanoag men and boys and sold them into slavery in Spain.

Tisquantum was freed by intermediaries and ended up in England, where he worked for a London merchant named John Slany and learned to speak English. He returned across the Atlantic in 1619, serving as an interpreter for the English captain Thomas Dermer. When he reached Patuxet he found that nearly everyone had died in a great epidemic.

The Pilgrims settled on the empty site of Patuxet, which became Plymouth. In 1621 Tisquantum served as their guide and interpreter, and he helped connect them with Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag. Accounts of the time say he taught the colonists to plant corn, to fish and to hunt beaver, and Governor William Bradford valued his help.

The story was not simple, and it is often told as if it were. Tisquantum had his own aims. According to the Pilgrim Hall Museum, he twisted translations to his own advantage and lost Massasoit's trust when his attempts to build his own power were exposed. He died of illness in late 1622, while still with the colonists.

Sources

1. Tisquantum / Squanto, Pilgrim Hall Museum
2. The Story of Squanto, Mayflower 400 UK

Checked against these sources on October 3, 2026. Spot a mistake? Report an error. How we check facts.